Postulates in Neuro-Agroeconomic Decision Making
8 Pages Posted: 11 Oct 2016
Date Written: October 5, 2016
Abstract
The fundamental role that agriculture plays in development has long been recognised. Agriculture is observed as a contributor that stimulates economic growth and operational renovation of any economy. Conversely, constraints (globalisation, integrated value chains, rapid technological and institutional innovations, environmental etc.) have swiftly changed perspectives in role of agriculture. This paper debates that a new prototype is obligatory that recognises multiple functions of agriculture for economic development in an emergent framework. Attempt is towards conceiving a model that triggers economic growth. A doctrine of neuro-agro economics is juxtaposed within the realm of (cognitive) agri-science wherein decision-making is an essential ingredient. In real decision processes, decisions emerge from complexly interlinked matrices. Processes by which farmers reach decisions have been ignored in agri-neuro-matrices. Question is how farmer make decisions? Problems confronting farmers exemplify conflicting tenets. Farmers, as production managers, make decisions based on various components of their land. These decisions have implications in terms of sustainability of farming and deserve in-depth examination with scientific attitude. Traditional decision research assumes an idealised decision situation wherein farmer knows relevant alternatives, consequences, probabilities, preferences and possesses cognitive capacity to efficiently practice them. Various techniques have stimulated agri- (farmers) studies and its links with bandwidth of farmer decisions. Studies spectacle that farmer's decision-making context do not meet these. Farmer often fails to design ‘rational’ decisions. Faced with obscure decision, farmers engage in strategic simplifications of decision problems. How do farmers coordinate their activity while making a decision? How farmers carry out decision making processes in their mind? What are the limits of understanding ‘thinking’ as practice of computing? How does previous experience alter behaviour? Do they interpret research findings when logical results conflict? What are the general implications? How does farmer decide in a state of vacillation, vulnerability - uncertainty - complexity - ambiguity (VUCA), risk and probability? This attempt propose a novel interdisciplinary framework grounded in mental models and farming system theories to explore the relationship between farmers’ mental models and their land management practices that takes into account the diversity of farmers’ ways of thinking and ways of farming. Enhancing a reciprocal understanding of various farmers’ mental models of agro-systems have been posited to trigger changes in both policy design and farmers’ behaviours. These are arcane complications in (farmers) cognition, although some have evidence supporting a hypothesised solution. This proposal explores certain agro-cognitive underpinnings in farmers’ decision modeling within a framework of development economics.
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